Results 1,441-1,460 of 7,412 for speaker:Neasa Hourigan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: The freeze was announced in June.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: There is a cap based on numbers every year-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: -----and when that cap is reached it is stopped.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: At the time of the announcement there was not a duration specified but that would imply that in the next fiscal year we begin again.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: Would it be fair to categorise this limited discretion as relating to existing services and keeping them going?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: How did the freeze impact planned services? By this I mean services that were funded in budget 2023. I could pick a number of services, such as genetics or diabetes. Let us pick diabetes. We have been trying to get the register up and running for a while. It would need a manager. A post was funded in budget 2023, as I understand it, but it is not an existing service. How would the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: Existing services.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: When does the new fiscal year begin for the HSE?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: It is in January. Mr. Gloster is not committing to looking at the freeze again at that stage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: I accept this completely. I have a question for the Department also but before that I have one more question for Mr Gloster. It is the control number the same for next year? Is it 1,400?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: We do not know the cap number yet.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: My next question is for the Department and I want to stay on this issue. In terms of bringing forward new developments and projects, such as the diabetes register, where will the freeze leave this work? Money was allocated in budget 2023, which I presume will not be spent. How is that being dealt and what does it mean for budget 2024 if there is no realistic expectation those projects will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: What Mr. Gloster is saying is that any discretion the HSE has is being used to keep services going. That implies there is no serious staffing space for new developments, registries or programmes. Is the Department aware of that and planning for that, or will we continue in 2024 to be told about this or that new programme or policy when we know they will not move forward?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: In 2024, we probably will not realistically see any new programmes launched, though we might get the document.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: Are the Department and the HSE not at a stage where they know the staffing and budget situation is such that there will be no significant movement on new programmes? Taking those individual programmes, it seems clear that nothing will happen in the next 12 months.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: So we will still see documents and proposals launched but with no staffing behind them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: I would like more detail on the hiring freeze for managerial positions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: Can I glean from this that where work exists for which we cannot have new staff we are going to ask existing staff to cover some of it to keep the service going.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: That is exactly right. We fund a lot of them. In 2023, there was funding for the diabetes register but it is not happening.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Sláintecare Reforms (27 Sep 2023)

Neasa Hourigan: I totally accept that. The Department has the strategies and funding but there is a practical implementation that is not happening at a vital point in the system. The funding and policy are there, but the staff are not.